For the first time ever, freeskiing will be included in the 2014 Winter Games, and this 22-year-old world champion could win the inaugural gold medal.

Canadian athlete Roz Groenewoud is already a world champion at the half pipe, a fast-paced skiing event that lasts only thirty seconds. Last year, she won the X Games in both the U.S. and Europe, and now, she's training for what could be the biggest competition of her life: the 2014 Sochi Olympics. What's particularly impressive about Roz is that when she's not standing on top of a podium winning gold medals, she's on top of the dean's list at Quest University Canada. We spoke to Roz, who recently partnered with Target, about what she likes to wear when she's competing and how she balances school with sports.

What event are you training for right now?

"My first event of the year is the Dew Tour in Breckenridge in the middle of December, and I'm excited to start competing again. I'm spending a lot of time preparing off snow, and going to the gym as well as riding a bike. I will get onto snow at the end of this month, and then my training regimen will switch and become more focused on the technical aspects of skiing, and less on just building strength."

How old were you when you started skiing, and when did you begin to view it as more than a hobby?

"I started skiing when I was three years old. My dad's an avid skier, and he wanted to have a ski family. But I lived in Quito, Ecuador in South America during my childhood, so I kind of had to relearn how to ski when I moved back to Canada when I was thirteen."

"It happened quite slowly. I've always loved being in the air. I did gymnastics when I was little, and I always found things to jump off throughout my whole childhood. So when I moved back to Canada, my parents put me into a recreational freestyle ski program, and I did all of the different events—some mogul events, some slope style events. But I found that my biggest passion was in the half-pipe, and so I slowly did bigger and bigger events from the regional events in Alberta to national events all over Canada, and started competing internationally. It slowly hit me that it was something I could do professionally."

What exactly is freeskiing?

"Freeskiing includes the disciplines of half pipe and slope style. Half pipes are these massive snow structures that literally look like half of a pipe going down a mountain and a competitor will most often perform six tricks going up one wall, landing on the same wall, and traversing across the side of the other wall. Style and ecution are the most important parts of the sport, and so it differs from alpine skiing in the fact that it's judged—it's not timed, and it's not a race. The judges at the bottom of the pipe are looking for the amount of amplitude you get off the wall, the type of trick you're doing, and how you make it look. It's about the tricks and style."

What do you wear when you're competing?

"The clothes that we wear are definitely baggier than the alpine skiers. Alpine outfits have to be very form fitting and streamlined so there's not a lot of air resistance, whereas in our sport it's definitely more about looking good! I often joke with my teammates that it's impossible to ski well if you don't feel like you look good. Since our sport is judged, presentation is taken into consideration. We wear clothes that are a little baggier. But I personally like my clothes to be a little flashy. My new jacket is gold!"

What do you consider your biggest accomplishment to date?

"I won the X Games in Aspen this past year. It's the biggest event of my sport. Freeskiing just got into the Olympics, so I could compete in 2014, but until that event, the X Games is definitely then premier event for freeskiing. That event was really special to me because my teammate Sarah Burke had passed away a week before, so it was an extremely difficult event because I was grieving. I don't think I'll ever be as proud of my skiing as I was at that event."

Did Sarah's death make you take a step back and think about the physical risks of your sport?

"I had to take a step back right after it happened, but quickly, I resolved that the best way to honor her memory and all that she had done for the sport was to push myself and approach skiing with an even more aggressive attitude."

**How do you feel about freeskiing's inclusion in the Olympics? **

"Neither men's nor women's freeskiing sports category were included before. It's really exciting. As someone who loves competing, the Olympics are definitely the top level of competition—the most pressure, the biggest audience. And so for me, I'm just really excited for the potential opportunity to get to go and experience that level of competition. My focus this year is to qualify for the Olympics. In Canada, our qualifying period starts this December, so every event is important. It's in my head!"

You're also taking college classes at Quest University and majoring in math and physics. How do you balance school with your intense training regimen?

"Quest is awesome for what I'm doing because it runs on a block program. So you do one course at a time for three and a half weeks, and then you're done with that class. I've been able to fit those little chunks of academia into my training regimen. When I'm at school, it's a balance to find the time to both excel academically as well as find time to be in the gym. I have to be very efficient with my time. I never go to school intensely when I'm actually on snow competing. Sometimes I find that it's nice to turn my brain off from skiing and have a break from it mentally, and the best way to do that is to focus on something else like school."

Do you plan to use your math degree to one day pursue a different career?

"I think so. That's currently my plan. I'm not going to end up graduating with my Bachelor's degree for a few more years. I've taken a variety of courses in the sciences. Right now, I'm taking an epidemiology course, and I'm exploring biology and public health."